Kayaking has been on my "Adventure Bucket List" for quite some time. I've been in Canoes and Rafted the Salmon River when I was younger, but I've never actually been in a kayak. I guess I've always kind of thought they were confining and I figured I might be claustrophobic - I've heard horror stories about flipping over and not being able to get yourself back on top very easily with whitewater rapids and rocks pounding at you the entire time. But a couple of weeks ago, my friend Nora told me that she and her husband had just picked up a couple of inflatable kayaks and that they wanted to take me down the river to see what I thought. Of course, I'm always looking for new things to try and opportunities to get in the water when it's hot out, so she didn't have to ask me twice!
Thursday morning, I went out to breakfast with Sam and then followed Keith and Nora to Sycamore Canyon to drop off my car and head up the river in their truck with the kayaks.
Once we launched and got out on the water, I instantly felt at peace. I absolutely loved it. The river started out wide and deep (we were just coming off of about 2 weeks of crazy rain every night) with little islands of cattails and reeds, and within about 20 minutes we came upon some nice little rapids.
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We carried on for about 1 1/2 hours, soaking in the sunshine, checking out the scenery, and listening for upcoming rapids. By that point, we'd made it to the dam and it was time to take out kayaks out of the water, carry them over the partition, and drop them back off on the other side.
The second half of the trip was a bit more exciting. Right away, we hit some epic whitewater. I have no idea how to paddle and actually guide myself when it's rough, so I just held my paddle over my head and hoped for the best. I ended up getting some pretty great footage with my "knee-cam"...I'm in the process of editing it together and finding the perfect soundtrack and as soon as it's finished, I'll post it up here. But for now, I'll just share this little gem :)
After we made it back to the parking area and picked up my car, we changed into dry clothes and headed over to the Red Rooster for lunch. I don't know about you, but I certainly can't think of a better way to spend my day off. So, I begged Sam to join me today for another go at it.
So, this morning, we went to breakfast (notice a pattern forming here?) and picked up the kayaks from Keith and Nora, launched and had the most delightful time cruising down the river.
I love our time together...he's been so busy with College classes lately, and I feel like any time I can spend with him I have to make quality. Days like today were just perfect...we talked and laughed and admired the tiny little frogs that were hopping around and he dared me to take my top off and we squirted each other with Super Soakers. No cell phones, no interruptions, no study books...just him and me.
I couldn't have asked for a better time. I must buy some kayaks of our own soon. The water was a little bit lower today because it hasn't rained in 3 days, but that just made for a slightly different experience. Sam almost flipped which was pretty entertaining :)
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| Look at him coming at me! There might as well be Jaws music playing in the back ground... |
After our little excursion, we hit up Maverick for some frozen yogurt and a good, cheap hotdog. What a glorious day. I kept envisioning myself at 85 years old, sitting in my little wheelchair in front of the television (I'll be in a wheelchair because I'm currently in the process of completely destroying my body, and I'm enjoying every moment of it) and I take out my laptop, open up this blog, look at pictures and have amazing memories of days just like today :) Life is good, my friends.